Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The IUPUI volleyball team dropped the first of its two matches Saturday at the Sports Imports DC Koehl Classic to Xavier, 3-0, but the Jaguars looked to be on their way to a split after taking the first two sets in its final match of the tournament against Southeast Missouri State. Unfortunately for the Jags, their fifth-set woes continued as the Redhawks rallied to win the final three sets to defeat the Jags, 3-2.

The losses dropped IUPUI to 4-7 on the season, and the five-set loss to SEMO was its fifth five-set defeat on the season.

In the opening set of the Jags match against the Redhawks, Moriah Fair put down 10 kills giving her 1,000 for her career. By reaching that career milestone, she became the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and the first since Kalyse Reimbold in 2010.

Kaitlyn Hickey led the Jaguars with a career-high 25 kills and a career-best 28 digs in the loss to SEMO, while Beth Howard tallied a season-high 33 digs in defeat.

Xavier 3, IUPUI 0
26 attack errors and 11 blocks for Xavier proved to be too much for IUPUI in the first of two matches Saturday and the Musketeers defeated the Jaguars, 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 23-25).

Fair led all players with 13 kills, but Xavier hit .172 compared to .040 for IUPUI.

Four kills from Fair in the early going coupled with a pair of blocks allowed IUPUI to open up a 13-6 lead in set one. Just as the Jags lead moved to seven, the Musketeers captured 12 of the next 17 points to even the score at 18, with four of those 12 points coming off IUPUI attack errors. A Xavier kill followed by two blocks gave it a 21-18 lead, and that margin held up resulting in the Musketeers taking the first set, 25-22.

Xavier continued its strong play at the beginning of the second set and jumped out to an 8-4 advantage, but kills from Meredith Farkas, Fair and Alexis Meeks, and a trio of Musketeers miscues brought the Jaguars within a point, 11-10. IUPUI remained within a point at 18-17, but three more IUPUI attack errors in the next six points contributed to a Xavier spurt that opened up a 23-18 cushion. From that point, four side outs ensued to finish off a 25-20 second-set win for the Musketeers.

Another slow start plagued IUPUI in the early stages of set three, but the Jaguars were able to fight back and force seven ties until ultimately using kills from Fair and Meeks to take their first lead of the set at 19-18. The Jags lead moved to two points at 21-19, but four consecutive Musketeers points reversed a two-point IUPUI advantage into a two-point Xavier cushion, 23-21. A Hickey kill brought the Jaguars within a point at 24-23, but an Abbey Bessler kill gave the Musketeers a 25-23 set-three victory.

Southeast Missouri State 3, IUPUI 2
Fair got off to a hot start in set one scoring IUPUI's first three points on kills, which helped the Jaguars take an 8-5 lead. The Redhawks responded by taking eight of the next 10 points to jump in front, 13-10, before watching their lead expand to five at 20-15. Two big blocks and three kills by Fair quickly knotted the score at 20-20, and a kill from Hickey a few points later put the Jags on top, 23-22. Two points from Southeast Missouri State gave it set point at 24-23, but a Wachtel kill tied the score again at 24-24. Hickey followed Wachtel's kill with a kill of her own to give the Jags set point, and a Redhawks attack error ensued to give IUPUI the come-from-behind 26-24 set-one win.

In the opening set, 17 of IUPUI's 26 points came from kills and Fair led all players with 10. The 10th and final kill of the set gave Fair her 1,000th career kill.

With the SEMO defense keying in on Fair, IUPUI went to Hickey early in the second set and three kills by her combined with two Redhawks errors put the Jags in front, 5-0, forcing Southeast Missouri State to burn an early timeout. Out of the timeout, the Jags continued where they left off and used another kill by Hickey, a kill from Wachtel and solo blocks from Hickey and Kortni Wright to widen their cushion to 11-1, forcing the Redhawks to use their second and final timeout of the set. From that point, Southeast Missouri State never really threatened and the Jaguars cruised to a 25-10 win.

Out of the break, the Redhawks used a five-point run midway through the third set to turn a tied game into a five-point lead, 16-11. The Jags cut their deficit to four points at 17-13, but that would be as close as they would get and Southeast Missouri State went on to take the third set, 25-18.

The Jags looked to bounce back in the fourth set and seized control early using two kills apiece by Wachtel and Hickey during a six-point run that placed IUPUI in front, 9-4. However, it didn't take long for that lead to evaporate. SEMO took the next eight points to catapult in front, 12-9, before a service error ended the spurt. The Redhawks lead grew to as many as five, 16-11, before the Jags rallied and closed within one at 19-18, forcing SEMO to call a timeout in order to try to halt the momentum. A Wright kill put IUPUI back in front, 21-20, but a Jags service error and consecutive Emily Coon kills re-established a 23-21 advantage for the Redhawks, forcing an IUPUI timeout. A SEMO attack error inched IUPUI closer at 23-22, but consecutive Jaguars attack errors gave the Redhawks a 25-22 fourth-set win forcing a fifth set.

In the race to 15, the Jags fell behind 4-2 before two big blocks, two Hickey kills and two Wachtel kills upped IUPUI's lead to 8-4. Ties ensued at 10-10 and 11-11, before a block from Walling and Wachtel put the Jaguars back on top, 13-11. Unfortunately, four consecutive points from the Redhawks gave them the 15-13 come-from-behind victory.

For her efforts throughout the tournament, Howard was named to the Sports Imports DC Koehl Classic All-Tournament Team.

The Jags return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when they head to nearby Muncie, Ind., to take on Ball State at 7 p.m.